Personal Gain
by Sidelong
Summary: Post-Ocarina of Time. Link searches for his real desires, and Zelda, aided by an exile from two homes. Language, violence, all the fun stuff.
1. Morning in Hyrule Castle

Dawn had broken over the ridge of mountains to the east. The last silver shreds of mist lay low on the open grasslands of Hyrule. The sun slowly rose, burning those shreds away and beginning the cycle of darkness and light anew.  
  
It was summer, or close enough not to matter. It was coming in the air, in the rough burn of every breeze, in the golden heat of the sun at noon. Children shirked their schoolwork and domestic duties, mothers stopped to chat or simply to sit in the sun, young men chased each other around the town square with their wooden swords. The air in Hyrule Castle Town was light, free, joyous, and had been for a few weeks.  
  
The captain of the Royal Guard stood at a window in the Queen's study and watched the sun edge over Death Mountain. Long shadows spread across the purple mountain as the first rays of light brushed their fingers over Kakariko Village, nestled in the foothills. Those same rays were highlighting the roof tiles and shutters of the Castle Town immediately below the white monument of the castle. All star charts, cloud watchers, and priests were in accordance, for once in their lives- it was going to be a beautiful day.  
  
The captain stifled a sigh, not letting himself think of the early dew still wet on Hyrule Field, the vast meadow/farmland connecting the towns and regions of the country. He was a country boy at heart, he knew. The longing to lie back in the grass and watch the clouds float by, or to wander in the Lost Woods until he lived up to its reputation and lost his own way was based in his childhood- free of responsibility, free of care, free of... shoes.  
  
He glanced down at his booted feet superstitiously, as if the leather and thread were solely responsible for his dissatisfaction, his wanderlust.  
  
The door behind him swung open and he spun with it, coming to attention as the Queen's personal bodyguard and nurse marched in. After a cursory (and customary) inspection for threat, she beckoned the Queen into the room. The Queen was a tall, slender blonde, every inch as beautiful, it was said, as her mother. The captain had never seen her mother, and did not care to speculate, although he found it difficult to believe beauty like the Queen's occurred more than once every millennium. Not that he was entirely unbiased on the subject.  
  
"Good morning, and at ease." the Queen said, seating herself behind the massive cherry-wood desk at one end of the room as the captain bowed in greeting. "Let's begin with your security report."  
  
The captain fell into parade rest and began to recite. "Last night's watches proceeded normally, Your Majesty. The third shift of guards on the west outer wall found a small hole in the guard post wall leading to the moat. It is being repaired. There was no unusual activity in the town last night, and no human activity outside the town near the moat. That is all."  
  
"Thank you. I-" Her Majesty, Zelda, Queen of Hyrule and Liege-Lady of its townships, sneezed hard enough to dislodge most of the papers on her desk. "Damn and blast this cold to the hottest desert in the Haunted Wasteland!" she swore. "If I'm not free of it by next week, I'm summoning that lunatic witch woman in Kakariko Village who makes potions out of mushrooms and cat hair to cure me."  
  
Behind Her Majesty's shoulder, the Royal Bodyguard was grinning openly. The captain had no such luxury. He bent to pick up the papers off the floor.  
  
"Thank you." The Queen sniffed into a handkerchief. "I swear, this is getting ridiculous."  
  
In the captain's opinion, along with that of the entire royal household staff, it had passed ridiculous some time ago and was heading for ludicrous.  
  
As he put the papers back on her desk, the Queen heaved a tired sigh. The captain glanced at her before receding back to his previous position, and, completely involuntarily, began to worry. Her Majesty did not look well. They were the same age, but lines creased Queen Zelda's face where the captain's was smooth. This cold only augmented signs of sleep deprivation and worry that had been on Her Majesty's face since she had picked up her father's crown. There were bags under her eyes and her lips were paler than usual. All their color, in fact, seemed to have gone to her cheeks. Fever. The captain bit his in sympathy.  
  
Falling back into parade rest, he glanced over Her Majesty's shoulder at the Royal Bodyguard. Standing against the wall, Impa stared back impassively, face unreadable to nearly anyone but the captain. He could read an impassive face- he saw one in the mirror every day. She shared his concern. As he watched, she raised a silver eyebrow slowly.  
  
The captain snapped his eyes back to the Queen. She knows, he thought, heart thudding in his ears.  
  
"Excuse me." the Queen said, pulling him out of his panic. "Let's get back to business. What's your agenda for the next few days?"  
  
"The tributary submissions for the Royal Guard arrive tomorrow," he said automatically, running through the rhythm of his days in his head. "and today I'm helping the Head of Palace Security arrange the hall and the guards for the Annual Pledge Audience. Other than that, nothing unusual for another few weeks."  
  
"All right," she said, folding her hands on the desk in front of her. "that will be all, Guard Captain, thank you. Dismissed."  
  
The captain bowed again, and made for the door.  
  
"Guard Captain-"  
  
Hand on the doorknob, he turned to face the Royal Bodyguard. Impa licked her lips, nodded. "I'd like to see you at your earliest convenience."  
  
"Ma'am." Nodding, he opened the door, took one step out-  
  
"Link-"  
  
Oh, for- He turned back to the Queen. "Your Majesty?"  
  
A worried frown etched itself between golden eyebrows. "Are you all right? You seem... tired."  
  
There were a thousand ways to answer that, and their history demanded more than an arrogant 'Don't worry about me, Your Majesty.' Feeling somehow like he'd been punched in the stomach, Link shifted on his feet, trying to center his weight. "I could say the same to you, Majesty."  
  
She smiled. "You'd be right. But I'm the Queen- I'm supposed to be tired. What about you?"  
  
Making his face as neutral as possible, he swallowed and prepared to lie to the woman, the country he'd pledged his sword to. "It's just the spring training, Majesty. I'm always tired in the spring."  
  
Behind the Queen, the Royal Bodyguard's mouth formed the word 'Liar.'  
  
The smile faded. "All right. But-" Zelda shook her head. "Never mind. I'm sorry. I'm seeing problems everywhere these days. Just- don't try to do everything, Link. You work too hard. Save your worry for wartime."  
  
I will if you will. "Yes, Your Majesty."  
  
"Dismissed."  
  
Bowing a third time, Link stepped out into the hall, closing the door silently behind him. He wanted a moment, just a moment, to process everything he was thinking and feeling, but there were servants scurrying through the hall, many glancing at him as they passed. Everyone knew Zelda was tired, and too young to be so old. He had no call to worry them about the Queen further when they could do nothing for her. 


	2. Morning in Gerudo Valley

Sunlight streamed in through the arrow slits high on the walls of the Council chamber. Outside, Eria could hear a trainer calling cadence, the shuffles and steps of scouts and trainees responding. She tried to find a place on the wall behind the nine faces where none of them could catch their eyes. There wasn't one, excluding floor and ceiling. Maybe if she looked at the floor, she would look repentant. Too bad every Councilor knew her position already.  
  
"Meriandra a Zumi de Patros," the head of the Council began, staring straight at her. "you have been called here to explain yourself. Your actions towards your year-mates and fellow Gerudo border on inexcusable. Women have been cast into the desert for less than you've done."  
  
Now, that was ridiculous. From a numerical standpoint, sure, she'd done a lot of damage. But no one had died, and there weren't any permanent injuries.  
  
"Nearly the entire Fourth Squadron will have to be replaced indefinitely. We haven't seen a brawl of this caliber in years. This isn't the first disciplinary problem we've seen from you, either. We have voted and, based on a seven to two majority, have decided your consequence. Before we pronounce it, would you like to say anything?"  
  
Eria opened her mouth. Closed it. Opened it again. "No, ma'am. Only that I hope the Council lived up to its reputation as a fair and just organization of unbiased and wise individuals." Her tone was so flat only her mother could tell it was sarcasm, and hid a small smile in her small hand.  
  
The oldest Council member seemed unsure as to how to take her statement. After a moment's thought, she stood, her high-backed chair scraping back against the brown flagstone floor. "Given your previous behavior, along with the incident two days ago, the matter seems clear. You have serious disciplinary problems. You do not and will not flourish in Gerudo Valley."  
  
Eria could see where this was going.  
  
"However," the old woman continued. "the one aspect of life here you give credit to is our military environment. Your thieving, physical, and strategic skills are well above average. We took all of these aspects of your character, positive and negative, into account when we made our decision."  
  
Eria had no idea where this was going.  
  
"Every year, as well you know, the Queen of Hyrule calls forth representatives of her tributary states to re-swear their fealty, along with citizens to serve her in a militaristic or governmental capacity. While we have a resident diplomat in the capital, we renew our tribute yearly. It has been the tradition of the Gerudo to send our one strongest warrior to serve Her Majesty. We, the Gerudo Council of Nine, decree you, Meriandra a Zumi de Patros, our messenger and tributary to the Queen of Hyrule. May your year of servitude teach you true discipline and respect for authority, and may you be a credit to our people in all aspects of your character."  
  
Eria wondered, distantly, if it would be disrespectful to throw up on the Council table.  
  
"Any questions before we adjourn?"  
  
The query seemed to be directed at the other Council members, but it snapped Eria back into real time.  
  
"Would it be out of order to ask if I'll still have a place among my mother's people when I return?" she asked in as respectful a tone as rage allowed.  
  
The old woman paused, thinking. "If you bring honor to the name of the Gerudo," she finally said. "we will welcome you back to our ranks."  
  
"Will I need twice the honor, or only as much as a Gerudo from honorable parentage?" She snapped back to the non-answer without thinking.  
  
The Councilwoman's lips and knuckles grew as white as her hair. "That was never an issue when we decided your fate!"  
  
"It was an issue responsible for my so-called disciplinary problems. It seems to be an issue with some of my year-mates."  
  
"Meriandra, you are dismissed!"  
  
The words echoed through the large, empty room.  
  
She wanted to throw back some taunt, some arrogant wisecrack, but couldn't think of anything to say. Instead she saluted, her crispest, most ass- kissing salute, spun on one heel, and left.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"This isn't my fault, Eria."  
  
"I know." Eria threw her grappling hook into a saddlebag with more force than was really necessary.  
  
"You're still angry, I see."  
  
"I know that, too."  
  
Her mother sat cross-legged against the wall, watching the sun go down. Usually Eria would have sat with her, but tonight she was too busy packing. Usually she loved to watch the sunset, but didn't want to acknowledge this one as her last Gerudo Valley Fortress sunset for a year.  
  
A whole year. One. Eria paused to shake a tear off her red eyelashes, placed her ceremonial and battle armor into a second saddlebag.  
  
"Be gentle with those," her mother admonished automatically.  
  
"Mom, I own them. I think I know how to take care of them."  
  
"Are you taking Freia?"  
  
"Of course. I'm not going to let my horse get adopted by a bunch of bigoted tradition-crazed maggot larvae."  
  
"Eria. Your father had nothing to do with the Council's decision. I know this."  
  
"You're right, Mom. If I recall correctly, it was mostly about me." Drawing a breath, Eria bit her tongue. "Sorry. I just- I can believe they'd send me away from my home after telling me how much trouble I've been. I can believe they'd kick me out with no support or shelter or aid. I just can't believe they'd expect me to uphold the honor of the Gerudo after doing all that!"  
  
"Do you think maybe it's because they think you can do the job well?" Zumi asked wryly.  
  
"No, I think they expect me to become smitten with some guard, get married, and plunk out quarter-traitor babies for the rest of my life."  
  
"Because all they see of you is Patros. The Gerudo half, the half you favor, my half, they can ignore."  
  
"My father was Gerudo. Why do you let them forget that?"  
  
"That's a bad question, Eria, and you know I'm not going to answer it."  
  
"Why, because my father has scales now? He lives with fish, he is a fish? So it's okay what they say about him?"  
  
"Your father turned his back on a tradition going back over millennia. He knew what the consequences would be."  
  
Finally finished packing, Eria pulled the last strap taut and turned to face her mother. "Do you realize that while you made an error in judgement that lasted nine months, it's lasted me twenty years?"  
  
In one lithe motion, her mother stood, strode over, and slapped her daughter sharply across the face. Eria leaped back, hand pressed to her cheek.  
  
"Two things," her mother said tersely. "First, I love your father, and so do you. We both know that. Don't ever insult me or him by assuming we were just a pair of sex-crazed teenagers. Second, you've spoken two ways here tonight. You've called your father a traitor and you've defended his position. Sooner or later you're going to have to make up your mind, Meriandra, and stick with it, because you're too old for me to excuse your rudeness to the Council as a child, and you're too old to have everything both ways."  
  
On her way out the door, her mother added: "I love you. You're my only child. Write or I'll hunt you down and pour lamp oil down your throat."  
  
The door shut. Outside, the sunset stained the rock walls of the canyon fiery red. The inside of her room was red as well, the dark red-brown of drying blood. Eria stood in the center of it, surrounded on all sides by stone and flame, and cried. 


	3. Bridging the Gap

Full morning in Hyrule Castle. The sun was up, the water clock in the Great Hall informed everyone that it was ten in the morning. Link had been in the Great Hall for two hours, supervising the positioning of the guards, ceremonial and otherwise, around the Hall. There had been amusing moments watching the guards try to follow his orders while avoiding the servants decorating the Hall, especially the incident with the pikemen and the flower garlands, but coordinating the obvious positions of the ceremonial guard with the more subtle positions of Impa's specially trained squad of Sheikah. The necessity of a) hiding the real in-Palace Guard, the Sheikah squad, and b) making sure said hiding places didn't hamper the Sheikah's speed in getting to the Queen, or their aim, if necessary, had taken the better part of the morning. Link didn't think the Great Hall was built to handle two fully armed and armored squads of soldiers, two screaming officers, and an endless influx of servants bearing flowers, benches, cushions, and cleaning equipment. No one had given him particular trouble, especially with the double threat of Impa barking orders at her squad, but it had been an ordeal anyway, purely due to noise, nerves, and chaos.  
  
Thankfully, his part in the ceremony was to stand there and look imposing while the Queen accepted the oaths of the noble families of Hyrule. It was all to the better that headaches made him scowl- given the percussion his pulse was pounding against the inside of his skull, he'd be lucky if no one ran screaming from the room upon seeing him. Said noble families were filing into the Great Hall as he took his place slightly behind and to the left of the throne. As the swirling masses of color and noise that made up every noble family fluttered their ways to their benches, Link closed his eyes for just a moment to rest-  
  
"ALL RISE FOR HER MAJESTY, ZELDA, QUEEN OF HYRULE, LIEGE LADY OF DEATH MOUNTAIN, DUCHESS OF THE GREENLEAF SETTLEMENT, HIGH QUEEN OF ZORA'S DOMAIN, MASTER THIEF OF THE GERUDO, HIGH MOTHER OF THE SHEIKAN VILLAGE, FIRST SEED OF KOKIRI FOREST, PERMANENT MAYOR OF KAKARIKO VILLAGE AND PROTECTRESS OF HYRULE CASTLE TOWN!"  
  
As Link watched the assembled courtiers rise, it occurred to him that perhaps the herald was paid a bit too much.  
  
From a small door to his right, Impa strode in, followed by Her Majesty, Zelda, Queen of Hyrule, et cetera. The Queen was dressed in her finest silk and velvet, wearing the seven signet rings of her provinces and her country. She dipped in an elaborate curtsey to the assembled nobility of Hyrule, and sat on the high-backed throne of mahogany and red gold. There was a mass rustle/creak as they sat as well. Impa took her behind the throne on the right, while Link mirrored her position on the left.  
  
All was in order. Zelda raised a hand slightly, and the herald began to read from a long scroll.  
  
"Darunia, Lord of Death Mountain, COME FORWARD!"  
  
As the huge Goron rumbled to his feet, Link glanced at Impa, then at the back of the Queen's head. The Sheikah woman raised her eyebrows, nodded ever so slightly. The Queen's hand had shaken just a little.  
  
Darunia knelt with a noise like boulders crashing together, and began to recite an oath of fealty. It occurred to Link that he'd somehow missed the little talk Impa had wanted to have with him in all the chaos of the day. Somehow, he couldn't bring himself to feel guilty. With Impa he could never tell if she wanted to confer about troop movements or to scream at him for worrying the Queen.  
  
"Ruto, Queen of the Zora, COME FORWARD!"  
  
Link watched, trying not to relax too much, as a tall, graceful Zora woman rose from her seat. Both Ruto and Darunia were friends of Link, people he had known since childhood. He had known them in another life as well, when he was the Hero of Time and they were two of the Seven Sages. He knew full well they would be called upon to take their roles if the need should ever arise in the current time. That was his secret, his and Zelda's- they had seen another future together, and rejected it.  
  
Yeah, he thought to himself. It's nice when the hardest task in your day is placing guards in the Great Hall instead of, say, fighting through a corrupted Temple to free Sage four of seven.  
  
Then why was he so damned bored?  
  
"Lukas, Duke of the Greenleaf Settlement, COME FORWARD!"  
  
This was a new one. Link watched carefully as the Duke made his way out of the mass of Greenleaf nobility to kneel before the throne. The Greenleaf settlement was a relatively new one, founded four years ago by an old mercenary who had turned his hand to statecraft. Duke Minot, Lukas' father, had built the settlement as a lumber town, originally, which quickly grew prosperous harvesting trees and making paper at a rate previously unknown in Hyrule (from what Link had heard, it had something to do with steam. He doubted he would understand it if ever the process was fully explained to him.). Mayor Minot had rapidly become Duke Minot, and his son Lukas had inherited his title when he died the year before.  
  
Watching the new Duke, Link thought he must have taken after his mother. Lukas shared broad shoulders and dark eyes with his father, little else. His hair and beard were thin, and gold-red. He walked like a noble, with the swagger of someone who'd only swung a sword in festival mock-fights or the practice yard. He was dressed in a long robe of forest-green velvet- a not-so-subtle reminder to everyone present of how he had come by his wealth. Link mistrusted him on sight.  
  
When he'd finished his oath, the Duke raised his gaze to the Queen's face and murmured something. Link leaned forward to hear.  
  
"If it pleases Her Majesty, I beg an audience after the ceremony."  
  
The Queen nodded, sneezed delicately into a handkerchief. The room rumbled with "Bless you"s and "Take care"s as the Duke made his way back to his seat.  
  
The ceremony continued without incident. Faces and bodies came forward, each representative of a mass of people who put their faith in the frail figure on the throne. Many faces were familiar, and Link gave up and relaxed for the rest of the morning.  
  
But his eyes didn't leave the Duke of Greenleaf.  
  
"Thank you all for coming," Queen Zelda began as the last noble sat back down. "I appreciate the distance you have all traveled to be here today. Today, as every year, I am filled with awe at the dedication and the care taken by the nobles of Hyrule to show their loyalty, and also to give their smartest and most talented citizens a chance to experience the world outside their homes. I assure you, I will not mistreat them, or give them any fewer opportunities than they dream of! Your retaking the oath of fealty today does not only renew my faith in you, it renews the hope I have that our country will become and remain greater than ever before!"  
  
Not for the first time, Link noted that Her Majesty was an excellent public speaker. She had spoken louder and louder throughout the impromptu speech, taking time to gain volume. By the end of the speech, she had been shouting, and the results were clear. The audience burst into applause, stamping their feet like peasants, cheering the Queen's name.  
  
The Queen stood, and the nobility stood as well, falling silent. Slowly, the Queen raised her hands. "Hyrule!" she cried.  
  
The reply crashed down like a wave.  
  
"HYRULE!"  
  
As cheers filled the room, the Queen curtseyed again, and fell into step behind Impa. Stepping up behind Her Majesty, Link was amazed at the expressions on people's faces, the tears in some eyes, the hope and pride and love flowing toward the throne.  
  
The herald, who was, after all, paid to be louder than everyone else, stepped forward to proclaim over the cheering: "THE RECEPTION OF TRIBUTE WILL TAKE PLACE TOMORROW AT NOON ON THE FRONT LAWN!"  
  
Link shut the door behind him, closing out the noise and taking a deep breath of cool hallway air.  
  
"That went well," Impa remarked sardonically from up ahead.  
  
The Queen was leaning against the cold stone wall. Beads of sweat stood out on her forehead and she was out of breath. "Did you think so?" she panted. "I thought it was a bit much."  
  
"We'll go over it when you're in bed. You're definitely fevered."  
  
"But- I have that audience with Duke Lucil-"  
  
"Lukas. He can wait a few hours."  
  
"I liked the speech," Link attempted lamely. He was rewarded with a brief smile from Zelda and a stern look from Impa.  
  
"Get the other arm," she commanded, and the two of them walked the Queen back to her rooms.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Link had a disturbing sense of déjà vu standing just behind the throne watching the Duke of Greenleaf come to kneel before the Queen.  
  
"Rise, cousin," she commanded softly, her voice floating across the room, laying the honorific on the Duke's broad shoulders delicately. "What have you come to request?"  
  
The nap had done her some good, had bolstered her energy for another skirmish on the political battlefield, but it was obvious to anyone who knew her that her energy was low. Her maidservants had powdered and painted her face until the redness of her cheeks looked like blush, and the bags under her eyes were disguised.  
  
The Duke, it seemed, wasn't fooled. His voice was soft and his eyes gentle as he began: "Only your ear, Your Majesty, and a few moments of your time."  
  
Queen Zelda smiled. "Those I grant freely to all my subjects."  
  
"Then I won't waste your gift, Majesty. I come before you with a proposition."  
  
The Queen raised an eyebrow, inviting further explanation.  
  
The Duke of Greenleaf stepped forward, spreading his hands. "I come as the patron of a large region. My province is young, yes, and sparsely populated, but our land is rich in timber and stone. We produce eighty percent of the nation's paper, and every year our profits are more than most regions make in ten years. We are, without doubt, the richest of all Your Majesty's provinces. And yet we have reached a plateau, economically and socially. Our people are humble, many immigrants from other regions, who work hard every day to earn the riches every person deserves. Because of our large working class, our Dukedom is still considered rural, even uncivilized, by the majority of the country." Duke Lukas took a deep breath, obviously coming to a conclusion. "It hurts me to see my people treated like the dirt they till by merchants and visitors to our land. The Greenleaf settlement was founded with the idea that hard work and group effort can make riches. We've proven our beliefs true, but every year I am snubbed by nobles of my same rank simply because my province is young, and made of hard workers! There's no justification for this, simply a backwards class distinction that forbids a poor man to die a rich one."  
  
After a silent moment, the Queen sat up a little straighter. "And you said you had a preposition for me?"  
  
"Yes, Your Majesty." Eyes locked on the Queen's, the Duke began again. "I propose a change in the nobility of Hyrule. Let the older families with names and little else be dissolved into the masses they refuse to acknowledge! This will make way for a noble class based on economic wealth, and therefore the intelligence that leads to it."  
  
"And what of the noble families born with wealth?"  
  
Lukas shrugged elaborately. "Obviously my idea is only that- an idea, and therefore riddled with flaws. Perhaps the wealth of that noble family could be redistributed to the public funds of their region. But imagine! Imagine a land where everyone is born with the opportunity to rise to greatness!"  
  
The Queen's tone grew distinctly dry. "I was under the impression that sending the citizens with the most potential to the capital to be educated and to serve in the castle gave those citizens such a chance."  
  
"Some citizens, yes, but not all, Your Majesty. A reversal of the nobility would take control from the iron grip of the older families and put it in the hands of those truly deserving, and in need, of it."  
  
Link stared down at the man before the throne. The idea was radical, ridiculous, and would never survive. The man was a fanatic. And yet... his words made moral sense. Why shouldn't the impoverished wise man have the same chance as the wealthy idiot? Link wondered. In his experience, it was the poor farmer's sons who made the best soldiers simply because they knew how to work with their bodies and how to listen. It was the nobles with bought rank and lofty ideals that died in their first skirmish. Better than anyone, he knew money didn't guarantee brains or good character.  
  
The Queen sat silently in her throne, staring at the Duke. Link wondered if they were thinking along the same lines.  
  
"Duke of Greenleaf, I think I understand your position," she finally said. "but I disagree with your tactics. The very word 'noble' is indicative of what rank used to be granted for. Nobility, courage, integrity, fine qualities rare in the spirit. I, too, have met the families who misuse their ranks, and abuse their power. I know nobles who look down on each other for not being human, or for having less money or a shorter bloodline, or-" her voice grew dry enough to evaporate Lake Hylia "-even for being female. But I also know those who invest their lives in their region's care, and who grant equal opportunity to succeed to all their subjects. Perhaps your vision is a bit skewed in that regard."  
  
That did not please the Duke, Link could see. A muscle jumped in Lukas' cheek. "My vision is that of the son of a common man who earned his own rank despite the efforts of the nobles around him!"  
  
"And my vision is one where not everything is so clear cut!"  
  
The whipcrack of the Queen's voice silenced the room momentarily. Duke Lukas took a deep breath. "Your Majesty," he began, tone unchanged from the soothing cadence of his first words. "I wonder how realistically the world makes itself in the eyes of a ruler. Is it not obvious, the meaningless flattery and false behavior all around you?"  
  
Never mind evaporation. The cool lake in the Queen's tone had frozen solid. "One of the abilities most crucial to a ruler's success is that of a quick and accurate judge of character. Don't think I'm so naïve as not to see false friends when they come."  
  
Link bit his lower lip. Lukas was in serious trouble.  
  
"And do not think for an instant that I've forgotten your suggestion, cousin." Her Majesty's tone made the word into an obscenity. "Did you expect me to miss the fact that removing the nobility from their positions of power would put you and your province at the top of this new order? I am no child, Duke Lukas, and I will not be fooled by a well-spoken charlatan. You are excused."  
  
The Duke paled, his face almost as white as the knuckles joining the fingers clenched by his side. "But, Your Majesty-!"  
  
"Out!" Zelda pointed at the door with one imperious finger.  
  
Blood flooded sallow cheeks, anger in full view for the first time all afternoon. "But you don't understand-!"  
  
In perfect unison, Impa and Link took one step forward, bracketing the throne. "Her Majesty excused you," Impa said, her tone as fine and delicate as a stiletto point.  
  
Duke Lukas stared at the Queen for a moment, rage and fear and confusion chasing each other around his face. With a swirl of green velvet, he turned and stomped out of the Great Hall.  
  
"That was childish," Impa muttered.  
  
Declining a reply, Link turned to the Queen. She had sweated off most of her makeup, leaving tracks of powder and glaze down her cheeks. She watched until the double doors swung shut behind the imperious green figure, then slumped down in the throne, closing her eyes and sighing.  
  
"Your Majesty?" Link began, not really knowing what to say.  
  
She flapped a tired hand in his general direction.  
  
Impa knelt down beside the throne, concern written across her face. "Now do you believe you're fevered?"  
  
Zelda opened her eyes, glanced at each of her most trusted advisors in turn, and sneezed copiously on both of them.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Link waited, leaning against the gray stone wall and wishing he could hear what was going on inside. When the door immediately to his right opened, he straightened to face Impa, who signaled him to silence as she decorously slid the door closed behind her.  
  
"Is she sleeping?" Link asked softly as the bolt clicked home.  
  
Impa nodded. "The physician gave her a potion of something- smelled like rat piss and grapefruit. She'll be out for a good five hours, he thinks. Come on."  
  
They began to walk slowly down the hall. Link glanced back at the door as they reached a staircase.  
  
"Ready for the surprise inspection?" Impa asked as they began to descend to the in-residence barracks.  
  
"What? Oh- sure. Do they have any idea what's wrong with her?"  
  
Impa snorted, shoved him gently. "It's a flu, child. A bad one, yes, but a normal, unexciting, let-nature-take-it's-course kind of flu. Nothing to stab, slice, or otherwise maim for a miracle cure."  
  
"So people keep telling me," he muttered unhappily.  
  
"You warrior-types are all the same." Impa grinned widely to show she was joking. "You get itchy whenever you face something you can't beat with weapons."  
  
Link smiled in spite of himself. "As opposed to the assassin that waits until nightfall to avoid actually having to work to kill their targets."  
  
"Meathead."  
  
"Coward. Would you rather I was pretentious and condescending?"  
  
"You are pretentious and condescending."  
  
Link snorted. "I thought so too, until I saw that Greenleaf Duke this morning."  
  
As the winding downward stairs grew dark, losing the illumination offered by arrowslits as it continued down under the ground, the Sheikah woman glanced around for servants or soldiers. It probably wouldn't be considered good politics for the Guard Captain and the Head of Palace Security to be heard discussing what an idiot a certain noble was. Security assured, she nodded. "Don't I know. Now, I've been here some years, but I doubt I've ever seen the like of that man."  
  
The stairway ended abruptly at a wooden door. "Here we are," Link sighed, preparing his aching head for another bout with volume. "Do you want the honors, or should I?"  
  
Impa made a graceful gesture at the door. "Be my guest."  
  
"Why thank you." Turning the knob slowly, silently, Link threw the door open. "ATTEN-SHUN!" 


	4. Crossing the Bridge

It was dawn when Eria set off from Gerudo Valley. She left early for two reasons- she wanted to see a Valley dawn before she left, and she didn't want to have every warrior in the Fortress watching her back vanish over the horizon when daylight bloomed.  
  
She saddled Freia in silence, loading her up with the saddlebags she had meticulously packed and repacked the night before. The air was warm, moist with morning dew, and scented with desert plants and sand. She had already tried to reconcile herself to the fact that she would be leaving for a year, possibly would never return, but her body wouldn't comply. She inhaled the scents of the morning with the same enthusiasm that she'd had when she knew every day would have roughly the same ending. When she'd had a home.  
  
Goddess, she wished she was out on the road already. Standing here thinking about leaving was harder than she'd thought it would be.  
  
Eria lead Freia out of the Fortress grounds by hand, wanting the comforting pressure of a warm bay nose in her back. Mechanically, she opened the iron gate, crossed the wide wood and rope bridge. She took a moment on the other side to stare down at the bright canyon green of the river flowing a hundred feet below her. The river flowed to Lake Hylia. Lake Hylia had access to the land of the Zoras. Zora's Domain.  
  
Father, she thought with particular wrench of love and anger that filled her at the thought of Patros. Would you be happy now? What would you say to me?  
  
Given that her father had skipped out on a tradition older than his whole heritage, she could imagine.  
  
That's not fair. The little guilty voice that argued her father's perspective spoke up. Your father didn't know what he was getting into. He wasn't of the blood, and he had no control over his fate when it was decided for him.  
  
But still! You'd think he'd have some basic sense of responsibility, instead of running away from his birthright as soon as he possibly could. How honorable is it to be taken in by a people at birth, live with them for eighteen years, learn their ways, achieve honor and power among them besides what he was already given, and then leave with no justification save that he didn't want to rule?  
  
In her opinion, not very.  
  
The river, apparently, had no opinion.  
  
Eria stopped to fill her waterskin at the small freshwater pool just inside the boundaries of Gerudo Valley. The water was clear and pure, the same gentle, healing green as the river. The water in Lake Hylia was blue- she wondered what color it was in Hyrule Castle.  
  
Why am I doing this? She asked herself for the thousandth time. Why do I insist on defending the honor of a people that have rejected me and my tainted blood?  
  
Tainted, she repeated to herself. Even I don't seem enthusiastic about contesting that opinion.  
  
But I want to prove it wrong. I want to earn my own honor, even though I'll be starting from further down than all my year-mates. I don't even want equality, necessarily. I just want respect.  
  
Which, of course, lead to the question of why she couldn't prove herself in ways more likely to earn the approval of the Council. She lifted her waterskin out of the pool, waited for the ripples to fade, stared searchingly into her reflection.  
  
Damn this temper of mine.  
  
But was it really fair? Her mother said the Council never discussed Eria's parentage when they sentenced her. Of course they didn't- it would be rude beyond compare to talk about the unfortunate results of a mistake made by a woman on the Council at the time! Any slander, any gossip, any mean little natterings like the ones Eria'd been taunted with since her year-mates grew old enough to define 'traitor', would take place behind closed doors. But still, it was obvious just looking at her that Eria's blood was thin. Something about her father's heritage carried over to his child where Gerudo blood usually stayed strong- she had his blue eyes, though darker, and her skin was tinged with gold amid the bronze and cinnamon. Her ears, instead of being the rounded shell of the Gerudo, were slightly pointed.  
  
"Sheikah." She whispered the word like a curse. Her father had been found as a baby wrapped in a blanket dyed with the Sheikah Eye of Truth. His hair was light grey, almost silver, as theirs was, and his eyes were the blue of winter frost. He was pale, shaded with gold and olive, and his ears pointed. Skeikah.  
  
Anger brimmed up from the secret, constant pain inside her stomach. Her mother was the descendant of women of strength, cleverness, wisdom. Her father was the descendant of professional assassins. This was her personal burden, to be the end result of a match that should never have happened, to be physical proof of the mixture of honor and dishonor. According to her year-mates, nearly every woman of influence she knew, it was Eria's lot in life to work her way out of the hole her father had dug. The first step in this work would be to reject her father, curse his name and memory.  
  
But how could she do that to the father of her mind, the one who played with her and taught her and let her explore Zora's Domain to her heart's content whenever she had visited? It was only recently that those visits had been tainted with the publicly enforced shame Eria carried from Gerudo Valley across the country, along with the growing anger of a daughter who didn't understand her father's absence.  
  
Freia nudged her mistress, anxious to be on the road and away.  
  
"You don't know we won't be back for awhile," Eria whispered to the mare, who snorted.  
  
"Okay, maybe you do. I don't know." Standing, she plugged her waterskin and turned to face the huge canyon one last time. The bridge spanned away from them, leading to a home she wouldn't see until it wanted her back.  
  
Staring at the rock walls of the canyon, Eria felt a deep regret. Even if she never returned to the Gerudo's Fortress, never claimed the cold bed waiting in a high room, the red rock and green river, the hot, stinging sands of the desert, would always be her place.  
  
After a moment of just looking, imprinting the sights and sounds and smells and emotions in her heart, Eria turned. Pulling herself up into the saddle, she squeezed the warm barrel of the mare between her knees and rode away. 


	5. INTERLUDE I: Unaware

The Queen was asleep, newly silent after a second dose of the foul green fluid given to her by the physician. Cool moonlight crossed her pillow, highlighted the dark blond hair, stroked the fever from her brow. She slumbered, unaware.  
  
The six Sheikah assigned to guard her (half of the squad brought in and trained by Impa herself) were restless. They prowled around the room, checking window, closet, privy, door. They were trained to protect the Royal Family of Hyrule; they were the personification of their people's mission. They waited, unaware.  
  
Hours passed. The moon was covered by swirling skirts of fog. Something crashed in the corridor, startling everyone on the floor save the Queen, who was too lost in sleep to wake. Five of the Sheikah, armed and ready to defend, rushed for the hall. One stayed behind out of custom, and she was caught completely unaware.  
  
Two men rushed the window, silently, expertly, and burst into the room. The Sheikah started to cry out, but her voice was lost in the noise in the hall, and an arrow caught her in the throat. Her last thought was to wonder how the men had scaled the sheer white wall of the castle.  
  
The Queen roused slightly when one of the men threw a surcoat over her and bound it with cord from her drapes. She asked a muffled question when the stronger put her over his shoulder, and was silent again as they vanished out the window.  
  
The commotion outside turned out to be a servant taking a last load of dishes down to the kitchen before retiring for the night- he had dropped a tray of silver on the hard stone floor. The Sheikah cursed each other and themselves for being so jumpy, and returned to the room.  
  
The bed lay empty, covers tossed aside. Their fallen comrade lay in a heap near the window. The look of awe on her cooling face, her comrades assumed, came from the shock of being caught completely and entirely unaware. 


	6. Chaos on the Road

The country of Hyrule passed around and under her, green and passionate and nearly blinding her with life. She hadn't been out of the Valley in the spring before, only the fall and winter, and even then only when the food storehouses were full and the plunder of that year had met the quota decided by the Council.  
  
Now, today, the air was light and warm, the sun golden- perfect traveling weather. Freia seemed to enjoy it, too, throwing up her head and prancing down the beaten roads. Eria hummed a song, something she'd heard from a bard stopping by on her way to Lake Hylia, and perfectly suited to her voice. She'd heard somewhere that all horses had an innate sense of rhythm, which Freia proved by setting her pace to Eria's song.  
  
They rode all day and into the night, walking in the forests and on the windy plains, cantering whenever the road was clear and the spirit took them.  
  
They passed a merchant caravan just after noon, Freia hopping nervously by the brightly-painted, noisy wagons with their flapping banners. Eria guided her off the road and around to the front of the train, careful to keep the reins loose and the pressure from her knees light.  
  
"Excuse me," she called to the driver in the first wagon. He had roughly the same expression as the mules he drove, placid, unshakeable.  
  
He glanced over to her warily. "Aye?"  
  
"Is this the road to the capital?"  
  
He nodded reluctantly. "Aye, s'about twenty miles from here. You'll know it when ya see Lon Lon Ranch on the plateau on yer right and a three-way road in front of ya. Got me?"  
  
Eria nodded. "Thank you."  
  
He nodded again, mechanically. "Headed to the capital meself. Gots trade goods from Greenleaf Settlement."  
  
Eria frowned. She'd never heard of Greenleaf Settlement. "What are you trading?"  
  
"Oh, timber products mostly. Little things- brooms, toys for the young'uns. Combs. Woman's fripperies."  
  
Her mouth formed the words 'woman's fripperies.' "Really."  
  
"Aye. Setting up for the festival what happens ever' year after the Annual Pledge Audience. Right cut for a profit, by my reckoning."  
  
Eria found herself nodding as mechanically as he had. "Good luck, then, and good profit. And thank you for the directions."  
  
"Certainly, certainly. Young slip of a girl like yourself ought not to be travelin' these roads with no direction. Be safe, now."  
  
Young slip of a girl, Eria repeated to herself. Maybe his eyesight was going. "Thank you, I will."  
  
"An' watch out fer bandits!" he called as she and Freia trotted away.  
  
Who in their right mind would name their ranch Lon Lon? She wondered idly as the caravan grew smaller behind her. That's really- annoying. Repetitive.  
  
They topped a ridge as the sun was going down, giving Eria a great view of Death Mountain. The mountain itself was a dark, mystic purple while the sky around it was shading into black. Save for the halo of dark smoke, the mountain looked like it was fading into the sky. Fog leaked over the foothills like smoke from between an old woman's teeth. She stopped to appreciate the view, glanced superstitiously to her right. Yes, lo and behold, there was a ranch. Lon Lon Ranch, she was willing to bet.  
  
The stupid names don't seem to be abating, she realized. Death Mountain, which hasn't been active in gods know how long. More like Dead Mountain. Greenleaf Settlement, which exports timber. And Lon Lon Ranch, which takes twice as Lon to say as it needs to. Silly Hylians.  
  
Freia was tiring. They took the soft slope down the ridge at a walk, giving Eria ample time to admire the fog sliding into the small valley before the gates to the capital, Hyrule Castle Town. By the time they set hoof on flat ground, the fog had swallowed them entirely and the sky was black above them. Dismounting for the first time all day, Eria took the reins in her hands and began to walk the stiffness out of her legs. Freia nickered warily as they made their way through the dense, purplish gray fog. Eria could barely see two glowing balls of orange ahead- they had to be the welcoming torches that meant the Queen was in residence in the capital.  
  
Long before they reached the walls, Eria could hear water running. Smell it, too, over the ever-present scent of... plants. Am I ever going to get used to this? She wondered, trying to smell around all the fresh grass.  
  
"HALT!" Someone barked from high above (the top of the wall, Eria assumed). "STAND AND DECLARE YOURSELF!"  
  
She came to attention, even though she doubted whoever it was could see her. Taking her cue from her mistress, Freia quit prancing and stood calmly behind Eria. "Meriandra a Zumi de Patros, tributary citizen of the Gerudo, come for the Pledge Audience. I have a letter of introduction from the Gerudo Council of Nine."  
  
"One moment!"  
  
Something began to churn, to clank rhythmically above her. It started above her, anyway, but by the time the drawbridge was all the way down, the clattering chains ricocheted off the fog and filled her ears.  
  
With nearly as much clanking as the drawbridge, three guards advanced carefully. Two were fully armed, the last bearing a torch in place of a spear. Returning Eria's salute, he stopped before her. "The letter, please."  
  
Eria turned back to Freia, dug through her saddlebags. The letter was a little rumpled, but was of the finest Gerudo papyrus, and untorn. When she handed it over, the guard with the torch unsealed it and scanned it quickly under the flickering light. Eria hadn't read it herself, and took the free moment to wonder what it said. 'Please take this screwup of a traitor's daughter and teach her some respect. Sorry about the short notice,' or something of the like, she imagined. Of course, it would all be disguised in diplomatic doublespeak. The Queen probably wouldn't even read it, just have someone translate for her.  
  
"This is in order." The guard finally said. "If you'll follow us, we can take you to the castle."  
  
With a cursory nod, Eria fell into step behind the Hylian guards. They were clad, it seemed, entirely in wool and chain or plate mail. They clanked with damn near every breath. How do they sneak? Eria wondered, amazed. I certainly wouldn't want them guarding anything I wanted kept hidden.  
  
They passed in silence under the wall. From what Eria could see, the stone making up the outer wall to the castle was a good fifteen feet thick- wide enough, it seemed, that guard posts were built right into the wall itself. Not so good for the guards inside if this place ever came under artillery siege. She bit her lower lip contemplatively. From the look she'd gotten outside, the moat was only ten feet wide, maybe six deep. The drawbridge was made of wood- flammable.  
  
"You don't see much action around here, do you?" she asked the guard.  
  
"What makes you say that?" he asked, sounding slightly offended.  
  
"This place is built like a siege castle made into a town, that's all. Nothing personal."  
  
"Oh- I guess you could say that, yeah."  
  
Wonderful, she thought. Not only am I sent away from my home, I'm sent to the capital of Boring.  
  
"What's that sound?" One of the foremost guards asked his companion. Eria listened carefully. It sounded like hooves on stone, coming towards them. Fast.  
  
"Get out of the way!" she barked, shoving the otherwise frozen guard beside her against the wall of the gate. She dropped Freia's reins, shouting: "Left!" Freia was a trained battlemare- she responded not only to physical commands, but verbal ones, and though she quivered with excitement now, she obeyed, sidestepping into the other wall. Eria followed her mount, hoping the two guards in front had the common sense to split apart before they were run over by-  
  
Four horses, galloping full out, appeared out of the fog ahead. They didn't seem inclined to stop. Eria pressed herself against the wall as the first passed, taking impressions of the horse and rider automatically- it was significantly ahead of the other three, and was carrying two people.  
  
The pitch of the hoofbeats changed as the horse reached the drawbridge. As Eria watched, the rider in front waved back at her- at the gate in general, it seemed, and sneezed loudly enough to be heard over the hooves. Eria was impressed.  
  
"HELP!"  
  
Okay, that changed the situation entirely. Eria swung up onto Freia and kicked her into a canter back out the way they'd come. All four of the other horses were galloping, and Freia was tired from a day's riding, so Eria didn't get far before the second horse caught up to her. That was fine. She hadn't had time to get her feet in the stirrups, so she shoved up against the saddle itself with her hands and knees, boosting up to a crouch on the seat. Taking her cues from Eria's body language, Freia edged over closer to the other horse, and Eria launched herself across the distance.  
  
She sort of collided with the rider's waist. He cried out, she grunted and grabbed his knee. Pushing down on it, she scrambled up behind him to lever him over in the same direction the knee-push had sent him. He slid off, tumbling to the ground below, and she dropped neatly into the saddle. It was too dark to see if he lived or not- Eria just hoped she had at least one prisoner to present to the guards when this was over.  
  
New mount obtained, she kicked hard, trying to get more speed out of a horse that, she was rapidly realizing, fell somewhere between 'nag' and 'dead' in the quality category. Instead of obeying her, it began to buck. She swore, smacked its neck hard with the palm of her hand repeatedly as another horse galloped by. Her mount leveled out, more or less, but by the time she was settled in the saddle again and ready to pursue, the two horses ahead had vanished into the fog.  
  
"Son of a bitch!" She swore, yanking back sharply on the reins as her horse began to buck again. She swung a leg over and shoved away from the heaving animal as hard as she could. She hit cold grass and rolled, hearing an indignant squeal behind her. She rolled up to her feet, staggered a little, dizzy and awkward, and watched her mount buck after its friends and disappear into the night.  
  
"God damn it!" She gasped, trying to catch her breath. The cold air knifed her lungs, froze her sweat, but did nothing to cure the red haze of combat from her mind.  
  
Several someones clanked up behind her. "Miss, are you all right?"  
  
"The gods-cursed filth got away." she wheezed.  
  
"Not the one you downed." one of the men clipped. "We got another."  
  
"Thank the goddess. Who was that on the first horse?"  
  
There was a group shrug.  
  
"Oh, excellent. What do you people do around here if someone screams for help, file a complaint?" At their exclamations, she held up a hand. "Sorry, that was uncalled for. But still, whoever that was wanted our help. But it's too late now."  
  
The three guards glanced around guiltily. "We tried-"  
  
"FREEZE!" 


	7. Chaos in the Castle

Someone was pounding on the door.  
  
Link swore, rolled over, shoved his face into the pillow.  
  
"Captain! Sir! Are you in there?"  
  
Wow, entirely too many exclamation points for this early in the morning. Link mumbled something in reply. Unfortunately, his eyes were open now and he was mostly awake. Pushing himself up to a more-or-less vertical position, he yawned hugely. Why did he feel so tired?  
  
He glanced around the small stone room, out the small rectangular window. Oh. Maybe because it wasn't even dawn yet.  
  
"Who is that?"  
  
"Rilie, sir, from the In-Residence garrison. Please, sir, it's an emergency!"  
  
Link stood up, swerved towards the door. "Rilie, I speak from the bottom of my heart when I say that, for your own sake, you'd better not be overreacting."  
  
The young guard's face was pale, beads of sweat standing out in harsh relief against the skin. Torchlight danced off his skin- too much torchlight, Link realized, for this time of night. The castle was awake. Something was wrong.  
  
"Sir!" The guard stammered, suddenly speechless when faced with the impending wrath of his commanding officer. "Her Majesty- The Queen- Queen Zelda has been kidnapped!"  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Twenty minutes later, Link was fully dressed, armed, and more awake than he'd been in months. He stood, arms crossed, in the center of the Queen's personal chamber, surveying the remnants of an abduction. The blankets were thrown carelessly back, piling off the end of the bed and onto the floor. The cords from the drapery were missing. There was a dark, dried bloodstain on the floor and partially up the wall in the corner. He took all of this in silently.  
  
There wasn't really a word for how he felt, save detached. Somewhere below his practical mind, rage and confusion and, so hidden that he barely noticed it, terror battled for attention. If one won out over the others, then he would be in danger- he could lose control. The only thing keeping him thinking clearly was knowing it wouldn't do anyone any good if his logic was dethroned.  
  
Dethroned.  
  
Link took a deep breath. Another. Didn't scream, or swear, or break anything. Just stood perfectly still until he felt stable again.  
  
"Sir-?" a timid voice asked. Link turned. It was Rilie again. Bearer of bad news, Link thought automatically.  
  
"Sir, the Royal Bodyguard would like to see you as soon as possible."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The five living Sheikah who had been attending the Queen that night knelt, silent, on the stone floor. Each of them stared resolutely down at the gray flagstone. Link stood behind Impa, watching, looking at the faces of the five who had let him down.  
  
When Impa spoke, her voice filled the small hall like water being poured into a basin- that slow, that unstoppable. "And now you have told us everything?"  
  
Five heads inclined ever so slightly.  
  
None of them had seen the attackers. None of them had seen anything. Link's mouth turned down before he could control it. "This is useless," he whispered.  
  
Five faces flinched.  
  
"They know more than the rest of us," Impa said, her tone a gentle rebuke.  
  
"The kidnappers know more than the rest of us," Link corrected harshly.  
  
"And Sheranin," one of the five murmured.  
  
"Sheranin," the other four agreed in perfect unison.  
  
"Who's that?" Link demanded, not wanting to waste time with the constant ritual and secrecy of the Sheikah.  
  
"The one who died," Impa said, her voice no longer gentle. Link's stomach dropped about level with his boots. His eyes flicked to the back of the tiny chapel where a still figure lay covered in a gray silk shroud.  
  
"Sorry."  
  
Six heads nodded, accepting the apology. "Don't trivialize their role," Impa said after a moment. "It's not much, but they can tell us something. Someone died for her, Link."  
  
Link bit his lower lip, nodded.  
  
"Good Mother-"  
  
The Sheikah honorific took the two officers by surprise. They looked at the five.  
  
The one kneeling in the middle looked back. He was pale, with black hair and gray-green eyes. There was gold embroidery on his tunic hem and sleeves. He was the captain.  
  
"Dier?" Impa prompted.  
  
He swallowed, adam's apple bobbing nervously. "Good Mother- Please, don't try to justify us. We, who were supposed to be the High Mother's last defense, failed first and last to protect her. We have no excuses. We beg for the grace of death."  
  
Impa raised an eyebrow. "All of you?"  
  
Nods echoed down the row. Link stifled an exclamation. The Sheikah were a people drawn to and employed by death- to demand it's embrace was asking the final mercy, salvation from a life that had become too difficult to bear.  
  
Impa thought for a long moment. "...No," she finally said. "I would not have more of my people's blood spilled today. And I forbid the taking of your own lives."  
  
Dier's head shot back up. Liquid crystal glinted in his eyes. "Good Mother, please-!"  
  
"No!" Impa barked. For a moment, her face was lined with grief and fear. "No," she repeated softly. "There has been enough death, and there will be more to come, I think, before this is done."  
  
All five remaining guardians slowly bowed their heads.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The morning sun peeked timidly through each arrowslit, poked into Link's eyes with every other step. He and Impa strode down the hall side by side- they must have made an imposing image, he realized. Servants were scurrying out of their way, looking guilty and nervous.  
  
"...interviewing all the new staff," Impa was saying. Link blinked, coming back to the conversation. Really, it was more of a monologue. "We have guards searching the city, but I doubt they'll find anything. This kind of attack can't have been a spur of the moment thing- it was too well planned."  
  
Link took an extra long look out of one arrowslit. He kept expecting to see something, anything productive- a squadron of soldiers coming back with news of the Queen. The Queen herself, riding from a miraculous escape.  
  
Or, more practically, a single messenger, a white banner, a ransom demand.  
  
"Link." Slender brown fingers snapped right under his nose, making him jump. Impa raised a white eyebrow sardonically. "Get your ass in gear."  
  
"Sorry," he muttered, rubbing a hand over his eyes. "I'm not focusing."  
  
Tossing him a 'No- Really?' look, Impa walked on. "We're tracking down every merchant and noble who left the capital this morning."  
  
Link turned towards her. "Nobles left the castle this morning? Why wasn't I informed?"  
  
"Because, technically, they were an In-Residence security issue until they left the residence." Impa smiled sweetly.  
  
"That's low."  
  
"And I told you three or four times. You were so worried about Her Majesty it just went out of your head."  
  
"Oh." Link nearly blushed. "Care to refresh my memory?"  
  
"Now that you've asked..." The smile dropped off her face, and Impa began to count off her fingers. "The Zoran, Gerudo, Kokiri, and Greenleaf parties all left shortly before dawn. Patrols caught the Gerudo representative- she traveled alone, with one horse. The Zoran party submitted willingly to a search. All we need to do is find the Kokiri and Greeleaf parties."  
  
Memories flew. Link frowned. "The Greenleaf party is unaccounted for."  
  
Impa met his eyes. "I think we're thinking along the same lines."  
  
Link nodded slowly, decisively. "Feel like searching through some rooms?"  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
For proprieties' sake, they searched both the Kokiri and Greenleaf parties' rooms. There were three Kokiri and twenty-six Greenleaf rooms. Partially to save time and partially to make them feel needed, Impa and Link enlisted the help of the five living Sheikah guardians. Link took the Kokiri rooms alone, leaving the other six to search the Greenleaf suites.  
  
Shit, he thought disgustedly, surveying all the child-sized furniture he'd have to go through. It was the first openly hostile thought he'd allowed himself all day, and, given that he was about to waste gods-knew-how-long searching the rooms of people he knew in his gut had nothing to do with the current crisis, he thought he was entitled.  
  
"Shit," he said aloud, and enjoyed it.  
  
There was nothing in any of the bureaus. There was nothing in any of the wardrobes. There was nothing in any of the child-sized privies. The mattresses hadn't been resewn recently. The furniture was all intact, except for one chair with a loose leg. He felt honor-bound to take it apart, and found it was, in fact, a chair with a loose leg.  
  
"Damn it!"  
  
The chair broke satisfactorily against the wall.  
  
Someone rapped timidly at the door. A blond head wrapped partially in Sheikah ceremonial bandaging appeared. "Sir?"  
  
Link did his level best to ignore the chair remnants. "Yes?"  
  
A slender hand beckoned him out. "We've found something."  
  
Link paced the hall behind the Sheikah, nearly running the shorter man over with his haste. All the way down the hall Link barked off questions- What had they found? Was it definitely evidence, or just a clue? The Sheikah refused to reply, saying the Good Mother wanted to explain herself. They strode into the last set of Greenleaf rooms, making the other Sheikah leap for their weapons until Impa barked a restraint command. The smallest of the five was more than halfway out the window, her ankles held firmly by Impa herself.  
  
Link took a moment to assess the situation. "Did you drop it out the window?"  
  
Impa looked up. "Not even close. Ready, Rowenie?"  
  
There was a muffled affirmative from the Sheikah out the window, and Impa released her ankles. Link bit back an outcry- they were five stories up. He rushed to the window, pressing against the sill and staring down-  
  
At the Sheikah woman as she caught herself neatly on an ornamental rim of stone, edged along on her fingertips to a gutter nearby, and, with complete disregard for the height or her own safety, monkeyed her way up it- all the way to the Queen's bedchamber in a high tower.  
  
Link stared, dumbstruck.  
  
"Wow," he finally managed.  
  
"Yeah, that's pretty much what we said," Impa said calmly.  
  
Link turned to his cohort. "I'd say this was pretty convenient if I needed to visit Her Majesty's bedchamber in the middle of the night."  
  
She nodded. "I'd say."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Link sat, staring out over the dark, foggy landscape as night planted firm roots in the sky. The view from the battlements was amazing- he could see all of Hyrule Field- if a bit too open to the elements. The night wind was cold, still showing spring frost, and froze the tips of his ears, but he ignored it. He was getting anxious. It had been over six hours, and there was no word from the platoon of soldiers they'd sent out to collect the Duke of Greenleaf and his associates.  
  
Free of possibility now, Link's mind began to ramble. If the Greenleaf party had done it (and every fiber of his being screamed they had), why? Did they want a ransom? Of what? Political power? Money?  
  
What had they done to the Queen?  
  
Was she still-?  
  
He shook his head, trying to free himself of those thoughts. He wasn't thinking clearly- he hadn't been all day. This crisis was throwing some facts into harsh relief, facts he'd spent every other waking day ignoring or denying. Whenever Her Majesty- the Queen- his childhood friend- Zelda, intruded too deeply on his thoughts, he became distinctly uncomfortable. Wistful. Hopeful. Depressed. Giddy. That odd cocktail of conflicting feelings that filled his entire body and left no room for anything else.  
  
"Sir-"  
  
Biting off a curse, Link turned. "Yes?"  
  
The pikeman in the doorway saluted sharply. "We think we've found someone." 


End file.
